


Rain

by tsuki_llama



Category: Darker Than Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 07:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12789483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuki_llama/pseuds/tsuki_llama
Summary: Sort-of prequel toFui and Lan. Misaki gets caught in the rain during a coffee run.





	Rain

Lightning cracked overhead as Misaki trotted down the poorly-lit street back to her car. It looked like the rain was about to start any moment; she probably shouldn't have taken this detour to the convenience store, but it was going to be a long night at the warehouse crime scene, and the others had already been there for a couple of hours. She was sure they'd be hungry by now.

Her car was a couple of blocks from the store - parking in this city was awful - but she reached it at last. Balancing the tray of coffees and plastic bag of snacks in one hand, she reached into her pocket for her keys with the other.

And came up empty.

_You have got to be kidding me_ , she thought, and peered through the window. It took a moment to see around the glare of the street lights, but once she'd found a good angle, she saw her keys very clearly sitting on the passenger seat. Behind a very clearly locked door. _Shit_.

She set her purchases on top of the car and pulled out her phone. As she did, thunder rumbled again and huge drops of rain splattered onto the car roof. A moment later, the downpour broke loose. Wishing that she'd at least grabbed her umbrella, Misaki tucked the phone back into her pocket, snatched up the tray and bag, and darted down the street. There had to be some place she could shelter from the rain so she could call Saitou to come pick her up; but there were only tall, lightless apartment buildings in this section.

The mouth of a narrow alleyway between two buildings loomed up suddenly; she ducked into it, thinking to take a shortcut back to the convenience store. Rain poured down the gutters and emptied into the alley; Misaki's feet splashed through an ever-deepening rivulet of dirty rainwater. Her shoes were getting soaked, and she could hardly see through her spotted lenses.

Then she spied a shadowy, covered alcove on her left and darted in with relief. It was dark and a bit shallow - some kind of delivery entrance - but it was dry. With an annoyed sigh, she set her things down on an upturned crate and found a dry corner of her shirt to clean her glasses with. Then she fished out her phone. The screen was black. She pressed the power button: nothing. "Damn it," she muttered, and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She'd just have to wait for the rain to let up, then go back to the convenience store and call Saitou from there.

She was in the process of removing her suit jacket to attempt to wring it dry when a slight movement to her left caught her eye; she squinted into the shadows, the hairs raising on the back of her neck. What was - then she saw it: a faint reflection of light from a chalky white face. She froze.

The Black Reaper was crammed into the other corner of the doorway, a bare two feet away.

_Shit shit shit_. Her impulse was to reach for her weapon, but she realized with a panicked start that it was still in her car. No gun, no phone, not even her handcuffs - should she make a run for it? She'd seen him move before; he was fast. She might not be able to even make it out of the doorway alive. Make that definitely not - her arms were still tangled in the sleeves of her jacket. Maybe if she managed to surprise him; but obviously he'd seen her dart in. He'd be watching for her to try something.

He was watching her now, his expressionless mask angled in her direction. She stared back, her heart pounding - and he turned his head look out into the alley, leaning back against the metal door. Ignoring her.

Misaki gaped, momentarily torn between relief that he wasn't interested in killing her, and annoyance that he apparently didn't consider her dangerous enough _to_ kill. At last, she settled for finishing the removal of her jacket, then folded it in her arms and leaned against the door herself, as if sharing doorways with known killers in her shirtsleeves was something that she did every day.

The rain poured on, showing no sign of slowing or letting up. Misaki glanced from time to time at her silent companion, her heart in her throat, but never saw him so much as twitch a muscle. At least, not until she leaned down to pick up her cup of black coffee from the tray. His whole body tensed subtly at her movement; but when she straightened, coffee in hand, he relaxed again, still looking away.

A bead of rainwater dripped from a lock of his lank black hair to roll down the exposed skin of his neck and under his collar. Misaki watched it, and the next drop, then tore her gaze away to focus on her coffee. She sipped gratefully. It was hot, but the others would likely be cold by the time she reached the crime scene. Which she needed to get to. Tapping her foot impatiently, she checked her phone again. Still dead, of course.

The Black Reaper was watching her again. "My phone died," she told him, just in case he was worried that she was sending a message for help, and showed him the blank screen. Unsurprisingly, he didn't reply, but continued to stare as if expecting more. "And I locked my keys in my car," she admitted with a grudging sigh.

At the latter statement, his shoulders twitched slightly. Misaki narrowed her eyes. "You'd better not be laughing at me."

His movement stopped, and his shoulders straightened.

"That's what I thought," she said, fighting a ridiculous urge to smile.

Several more minutes passed, but somehow now they felt companionable, rather than tense. Her stomach gave a little gurgle, and she debated whether she ought to break into her snacks yet or not. Then a gurgling loud enough to be heard over the pounding rain made her jump. She turned towards her neighbor; his shoulders were hunched and he was looking away, as if embarrassed. This time she couldn't stop her smile.

Bending down, she retrieved the plastic bag and dug through the contents. Meat buns for Saitou, Swedish fish for Kouno, an apple and banana for Matsumoto. She pulled out one of the two boxes of chocolate pocky and held it out. "Here."

He stared at the pocky. Or at least, she assumed he was staring, as she couldn't actually see his eyes. "Take it," she ordered. "I can hear your stomach growling from here."

Slowly, he reached for the box and took it from her, taking obvious care not to brush her fingers with his black glove. The thought of what one touch from such a dangerous contractor could do sent a small shiver down her spine, but she didn't flinch away.

He looked down at the pocky in his gloved hand. Belatedly, Misaki realized that in order to eat the snack, he'd have to take off his mask. "You can, um, eat it later," she said.

He nodded slightly, and tucked the package into his jacket, baring for a brief moment the metallic flash of a knife hilt. This time she did shudder, and occupied herself in opening the other box of pocky.

The rain slowed to a trickle about ten minutes later, during which time neither of them said anything more. Misaki kept her gaze fixed studiously into the alley while she chewed the chocolate-coated biscuits; she didn't know what he was watching, or if he was even paying any attention to her at all.

When at last the drumming on the dumpster across the way became a faint tapping, Misaki stepped cautiously out of the alcove and held up her hand; it was definitely light enough to head over to the convenience store now. "Looks like the rain has -" she began, turning back - only to find the alcove behind her was empty. "...stopped."

There was no sign that another person had even been there. She didn't know why she was disappointed - after all, she was lucky to even be alive - but she _was_ disappointed. _Don't be an idiot_ , she told herself as she picked up her bag and tray of now-cold coffee. _It's not like you'll never run into him again; and next time, you won't lock your gun in the god damned car._

She exited the alleyway the same way that she had entered, deciding that it would be best to not appear as if she was following him - for he must have left in the opposite direction. Glancing down the street out of habitual paranoia to make sure that her car was still where she had left it, she saw with a start that someone was standing next to the driver's door.

It was BK-201.

"What are you -" But as she watched, a blue spark of electricity leapt from his fingertips and into the door. "Hey!" Misaki dashed as fast as she could down the wet sidewalk without dropping the coffee tray, but he had darted away before she'd even come close. She slowed to a halt, gazing down the misty street. His shadowy shape flitted around a corner, and he was gone.

She turned back to her car: the electric door lock had been tripped. "Oh," she said, though there was no one there to hear. "Um, thanks."

Tossing the bag and her soaking jacket onto the passenger seat, she snatched up her keys and locked the car again, then headed back down the street to pick up some fresh coffee.


End file.
